Knitting machine



March 31, 1942, K. HOWIE KNITTING MACHINE Original Filed Sept. 26, 1940 Patented Man 31, 1942 2,273,106

KNITTING MACHINE Kenneth Howie, Norristown, Pa., assignor to Wildman Mtg. 00., Norristown, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original application September 26, 1940, Serial Divided and this application July 2, 1941, Serial No. 400,838

Claims.

The invention relates to pressers for the beards of spring beard needles.

While the invention is illustrated in connection with a knitting machine of the full portions of the adjacent sinkers and divider. By

lying in and filling this space, the headpiece is guided against lateral movement by the sinker and divider on opposite sides thereof. The thin strip portion I3 is only as wide as the small space fashioned type, it is not limited in this respect. 5 left between the adjacent divider 3 and the re- It is sometimes desirable that only certain inforcing plate 9 of the adjacent sinker 2. The of the needles be pressed, and moreover, that rearward portion of the presser element I2 is they be pressed at a point above the level where therefore guided against lateral movement- By the usual pressing operation takes place. The being thin, the strip portion l3 not not passes present invention relates to a presser implement through the a o p 0e between e d v d by which the needle beard may be pressed at a and t e e f rc P t 9 0 the Sinker, bu high level when it is desired to start fabric on passes as well through the narrow space between bare needles or for other purposes. t pp e of the jacks In the drawing: The headpiece [4 of the presser element l2, Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view through by being a Wi e a the Space tween the fora machine at the sinker head portion thereof. ward thin portions of the adjoining sinker and Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but with the divider, presents a broad face ii for contact parts in a difierent position from that of Fig. 1. with the beard of the needle. .The wide breadth Fig. 3 is a plan view of the presser element. of this face I5 is made possible by taking Fig. 4 is a plan view of the sinker and Fig. 5 is vantage of the fact that the reinforcing plate 9 a plan view of a divider. does not extend to the forward end of the Fig. 6 is a side view of the presserelement. sinker 2. Fig.7 shows a part of the sinker head base. The w r d f t dp f rward of The needles I are of the spring beard type, the attachment to.the strip portion I3, is cut and are supported in the usual manner by away. providing an in lin d edge t. At its upclamping their lower ends in a needle bar (not r f rward e the adpi e is p vid d with shown). These needles are disposed in a straight a raised p The height 0! this raised D line, as the machine chosen to illustrate the is appr xi y t s e a e d pth f the invention is of the full fashioned type employed ut away part o the lower d f the headfor knitting hosiery. piece. The rearward edge of the raised part ll Sinkers are indicated in dotted lines at 2. The is l d t form a m surfa t. dividers are not indicated in assembly but they e i cl ed surfa I 6 of e c p esser e are arranged as is well known. ment cooperates with the rearward inclined The numeral 5 indicates the usual sinker head surface 2| of one of the projections 20 present base and 1 the sinker head cover. These parts between every s n r and divider. The P guide the sinkers and dividers. jections 20 extend upwardly from the sinker The sinkers, as usual, are made of thin strip head base 5 and are contacted at their forward material and they are-reinforced by plates 8 and e 23 y the heard of the needles in Plain 9 as in Fig. 4. Jacks In driv th sinkers, knitting. As the presser element is' advanced The dividers 3 are of thin strip material 40 in a direction toward the needle bed, from itsthroughout their lengths, and are not reinforced. position of Fig. 1, its Surface 15 Will bear a st Both the dividers 3 and the sinkers 2 are prothe surface 2| of p ojection 20. Continued forvided at their rearward ends with upstanding .ward m v m t of t pr ss r element will butts which may be engaged by the catch bar ll. cause the ea piece I to b a med upw d y, The presser element I2 01' the invention is best 0 that When it is in its f y v d DO t On shown in Figs. 3 and 6. This presser element [2 of Fig. 2, it will lie above the level which it ocis made up of a thin strip portion l3 to which is cupies when it is in its retracted position of attached a headpiece ll. One side of the head- F g. 1. piece it is recessed to a depth to just l'eceive I When the presser element is retracted, the inthe strip portion [3, so that th n id of clined surface It of the headpiece will contact the presser element will b flush throughout its the forward face I9 01 the cover 1 0f the sinker length. head and cam the presser element dowwardly 'The headpiece ll of the presser element I2 is to the lower position it occupies when it is reas wide asthe space between the thin strip tracted. It will'be clear that for this upward and downward camming action to occur, the

surfac 2| must lie to the rear of the edge IS, a distance which at the greatest is the horizonfal distance from surface It! to surface l6 of the presser element.

It may be observed that the presser element is incapable of up or down movement both when in its advanced and in its retracted position. This is because the vertical distance from the top of the raised part II to the lower edge 22 of the presser element is the same as the height of the space between the sinker head base and cover 1. and because the heights of the projections l1 and 20 are equal and the same as the depth of the cut-away portion providing the surface l6.

To drive the presser elements l2 forward and backward, they are mad elongated to extend to the rear of the sinkers anddividers. At their rearwardmost portions, they are made of increased height, and are formed with a notch 24.

The lower end of a blade 25 lies in this slot, and the upper end of this blade is secured to a rock shaft 26. Rotation of the rock shaft is preferably under control of a pattern mechanism, so that the presser elements will be automatically advanced or retracted. To limit the retracting movement of the presser element, it may be provided on its lower edge 22 with a lug 21 which will abut against a plate 28 which extends along the machine.

The plate 28 also serves as a rest to support the rearwardmost ends of the presser elements. The presser elements, therefore, do not bear upon the sinker head except at their wide head portions M.

The presser elements normally lie in their retracted position, as shown in Fig. 1. so that they are entirely inactive during usual knitting operations. At the time they are to be employed, they are urged forward by the blade 25 to the position of Fig. 2. The upward movement of each presser element, due to the cam surfaces It and 2|, places the face l5 of that presser at such a high point that the beard of the needle in line therewith is pressed to closed position before the yarn upon the needle has entered the beard. The yarn consequently passes over the beard and is cast off of the needle as the needle moves downward. When the presser element is then retracted, it is forced downwardly by the action of surfaces I8 and I9, so that the position of Fig. 1 is resumed.

The location of the head of the presser element at a high position when it is advanced and at a low position when it is retracted is an important feature of the invention. By lowering it when it is retracted, it is entirely out of the way of the movement of the yarn carriers (not shown) which pass back and 'forth immediately in front of the surface l9. By raising the head of the presser element when it is in its forward active position. its face l5 will press the beard of the needle above the sinker throat, and therefore prior to the entry of the yarn upon the needle under the beard of the needle, as has been noted.

A particular use of the presser elements of this invention is to assist in starting up fabric on bare needles. For this purpose, a presser element is provided for every other one of the needles upon which the fabric is to be started. Immediately after the new yarn has been laid against the bare needles by the yarn carrier, the presser elements are advanced and the yarn M11 therefore be pressed oif every other needle as the needles move downward through their knitting stroke. The yarn will then pass to the front and to the rear of successive needles, so that the next yarn laid down will be knit into loops upon all the needles. Regular knitting will thereafter occur in the usual manner.

As an example of starting knitting on bare needles, the production of a complete lady's hose upon a single machine may be considered. This may be accomplished by casting off the heel tabs after they have been knit, and then returning to the needles the instep portion of the fabric. Knitting must then occur beyond the width of the instep to make up the full width of the sole. The presser elements of the invention are accordingly provided for every other one of the needles which lie beyond the instep of the fabric, on both sides of the fabric.

The presser elements of the invention may also be employed to cause drop stitches for fancy work at an portion of the fabric by associating one of the presser elements with each of the needles upon which a drop stitch is to be made.

This application is a division of that filed Sept. 26, 1940, Ser. No. 358,533.

I claim:

1. A presser element for spring beard knitting needles comprising an elongated strip-like portion and a widened head portion of uniform width from top to bottom of the element, said head portion presenting a pressing face at an extreme end of the element 'for substantially the full width and height of the head portion, a side face of the element being flush from end to end of the element.

A presser element for spring beard knitting needles comprising an elongated strip-like portion and a widened head portion of uniform width from top to bottom of the element, said head portion presenting a pressing face at an extreme end of the element for substantially the full width and length of the head portion, said head portion having on its underside a cam surface inclining upwardly and forwardly toward the pressing face of the element.

3. A presser element for spring beard knitting needles comprising an elongated strip-like portion and a widened head portion of uniform width from top to bottom of the element, said head portion presenting a pressing face at an extreme end of the element for substantially the full width and length of the head portion, said head portion having on its underside a cam surface inclining upwardly and forwardly of the element, and said head portion having a projection on its forward upperside to provide a cam surface inclining downwardly and rearwardly away from the pressing face of the element.

4. A presser element for a spring beard needle of a full fashioned knitting machine having a stem portion and a head portion, said head portion presenting a pressing face at an extreme end of the element, said presser having on the under side of its head portion and at a point removed from said extreme end a cam surface inclining upwardly toward the pressing face for raising the presser to press the needle beard at a level higher than normal.

5. A presser element according to claim 4 having on the upper side of its head portion a projection with a cam surface inclining downwardly and rearwardly awa from said pressing face.

KENNETH HOWIE. 

